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CBA Agrees to Settle Rate-Rigging Allegations

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has agreed to pay $25 million to settle charges brought against it by the corporate regulator, for rigging the bank-bill swap rate, or BBSW, to boost profits, Business Insider reported. CBA was taken to court by Australian Securities and Investments Commission in January, where it was alleged the bank engaged in unconscionable conduct in breach of the ASIC Act. All four major banks have faced legal action for alleged manipulation of the BBSW—a key benchmark rate used as the basis for billions of dollars in lending across the economy. National Australia Bank and Australia and New Zealand Bank also paid a settlement fee, while Westpac continues to fight the allegations in court. “CBA will acknowledge that, in the course of trading on the BBSW market in Australia on five occasions between February and June 2012, CBA attempted to engage in unconscionable conduct in breach of the ASIC Act,” the bank said in a statement Wednesday. “CBA will also acknowledge it did not have adequate policies and systems in place to monitor the trading and communications of its staff in order to prevent that conduct from occurring.”